The semi-weekly fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1887-11-11
Farm and Garden Notes.


sandy soil, not in rich loans.
Sweet potatoes are asserted by some to
be better than corn for fattening pigs.
Dandelions in the pasture are recon-
mendcd by the North British AgricuL-
tu7'ist
The mangold-wurtzel is said to be the
original beet, and it grows wild on some
of the islands of the Atlantic.
Popcorn is said to be better for poul-
try feed than any other species of maize,
1t contains a larger proportion of albu-
men.
Mr.. A. S. Fuller thinks the japanese
persinimOn likely to prove a valuable
fruit in the Southern States, but too ten
der for the North.
Fine manure is better than coarse and
hens are the best agents for breaking 1t
up. Scatter wheat over the pile and keep
the fowls scratching.
1t is suggested that much poor butter
is made IN farm diaries because farmers
do not provide their wives and daugh-
tiers with improved appliances.
The nature of plaster is to attract
moisture from the atmosphere, and if
any nitrogen exist therein it will be
absorbed and held for plant use.
According to Mr.. Berckmans, peach
yellOws are unknown in Georgia and
other Southern States and he thinks it
likely that climate has much to do with
the disease.
Prof. Slower says a ration of thirty
pounds of pumpkins per COW, daily, will
increase the flow and improve the quality
of milk More than this quantity should
not be given.
Some insects are caInivOrOus in their
habits, and feed upon those which de-
stroy our farm crops. For example, the
ferocious '1ion-beetle" preys upon the
destructive cutworm.
A few years ago $50 pounds of butter
per annum was considered large yield
for single cow, but now four or five
times that amount are not unusual, and
much larger records have been made.
A Wisconsin farmer took his stock
through a hard winter, after a dry sum-
mer, by storing every bit of corn fodder,
putting all his straw under cover for
feed, and buying literally of wheat
bran.
There are four practical methods Of
improving dairy stock, viz: By increas-
ing the feed. by better care, by selection,
and above all by breeding. The last is
by far the most effective, practical and
progressive.
Every one knows the mischief which
the corn or ball worm plays in the corn
field 1t is we'll to know that among the
natural enemies Of this worm are the blue
bird, the orchard, the Baltimore oriole,
the king bird and the quail.
dry hay. Run hay through the feed
cutter. mixed with ground grain, and
moistened. This will keep horse in
better condition than if fed twice the
quantity without preparation.
A practical farmer says that in setting
posts where great solidity is required he
uses gravel and small stones to fill around
the posts and then runs in thin water
lime mortar. thus virtually imbedding the
post in rock, preventing decay and insur-
ing solidity.
Some experiments in the feeding of
cattle carried out by Prof. Wrlghtson, at
the College or Agriculture, Downton,
England afford additional evidence of
the superior economy of finishing cattle
off for the butcher at an early age. a
beast intended for the block should never
be allowed to go back.
In securing trarsplanted trees it is adj
viscd against driving stakes down among
the roots, near the side of the stem. Use
three galvanized wires fixed to collar at
a convenient height up the tree, and fas-
ten them to stumps driven In the ground
at a certain distance from the stem, thus
avoiding the roots altogether.
The Farmer (England) says: " Old
ly,,1& 70 no wow
last are not worth mnch to the butcher.
If a COW of about thirteen years of age
could be had for nothing she could hardly
bring in any profit by fattening, for in
proportion as her life becomes exhausted
so will digestion gradually fail"
Experiments by Professor H. Shelton,
of the Kansas State College, have demon
strated that finely-c corn fodder is much
less attractive and palatable TO animals
than that cut into cOarser lengths. The
uneaten portion of fodder cut one-fourth
inch was 90 per cent. of that cut one
inch, SO per cent; two inches, pa per
cent
Farmer Stahl, of Quincy, Ill, says the
best soil for wheat is magnetism lime
stone, or limestone clay, but it can be
nrOftablv grown on nearly every fertile
drained soil On soils lacking silica,
the straw lodges; lacking in lime, the
berry is not plump. He adds, growing
wheat on undrained land is fOolishneSs.
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